Until Next Time
by DizzyBaby
Summary: The 10th doctor travels back to 2003 and accidentally meets Rose before she meets the 9th doctor. What will he do when confronted with the love of his life who doesn't know who he is?


_A '10th doctor meets Rose before the 9th doctor meets her in 2005' story. Why is it that I get plot bunnies for fanfic when I'm supposed to be writing stories for my creative writing course? Lol it's a nightmare! Anywho, any comments or criticism is much appreciated!_

"What galaxy is this?"

The stranger asked as he staggered out of the blue box that had just appeared in front of me. I knew I was gawping, but seriously, this box had just appeared out of thin air!

"What?"

Previously, he had been glancing all around and his eyes finally fell on me. "Rose?" He croaked. Without a warning, he leapt forward and enveloped me into quite a crushing hug for a guy so skinny. "Ohh, I missed you" He whispered, and this time my feet left the floor with his enthusiasm. I wouldn't mind random strangers coming up to me and hugging me if they all looked like him. He eventually released me and took a step back.

"Um, yeah, who exactly are you? And not that I'm complaining, but what was that all about?"

He froze. We stared at each other for a moment. His troubled brown eyes would not have been out of place on a man twice his age, yet this was stark contrast with his pinstripe suit and Converse. The geek chic style suited him.

"You don't know who I am" the pain in his hollow voice was obvious and it made me feel slightly uncomfortable.

"No. Should I?"

"Well…" I could tell there was something he wanted to say, but he looked away from me, with what I could have sworn were tears in his eyes. I saw him swallow hard. "I'm sorry, I should have realised, it's not you, well it is but…you're younger, what year is it?"

"2003. Why?"

His legs fell out from underneath him in what I gathered to be exhaustion, as once on the ground, he closed his eyes and leant his head back against the door of the mysterious box. It was only then I noticed the smudges of dirt on his face and the rips in his clothing. He was in a bad way, his chest heaving.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked, taking a step closer to the guy.

He began muttering under his breath, I wasn't sure if it was even English or any language I recognised. His body racked with sobs, I could just make out a few random words; "Lost her. Doesn't know me. 2 years."

I glanced around me awkwardly, biting down on my thumb nail. The estate was deserted and the daylight was rapidly disappearing. I couldn't just leave him in this state, knowing the kind of things that happen around here under the cover of darkness. Pulling the ends of the sleeves of my jumper down into my palms, I approached the guy cautiously. I hesitantly crouched down beside him and stretched one hand out to touch his shoulder. His flinched and his head snapped forward, his questioning eyes met mine.

"Are you hurt at all? You look like you've been in the wars" I commented with a weak smile.

"The Time war." He muttered absently.

He wasn't making any sense with his jumbled, made up words, like he had concussion or something. "Uh, look. Maybe you should see a doctor, yeah?"

He threw his head back and laughed hysterically. "I _am_ the doctor! I need to get away from here, from you!" I heard him mutter something under his breath that sounded like 'paradox'.

My eyebrows flew up and I rose to my feet. "Alright, fine. No need to snap. I was only trying to help." With a final glare, I turned on my heel and began to stalk off in the opposite direction.

"No, no, no! Wait! Oh, come back!" His cry was so desperate that I froze to the spot, but didn't turn around just yet. "I'm sorry. I'm rude sometimes without meaning to be, I could never be rude to you." He finished softly and my frown deepened. "Not many people would give a second thought to some rambling stranger in the street, so thank you. I always knew you were brilliant."

"My mum says I shouldn't talk to random guys." I said sarcastically, after a long pause.

"And she's right. Blimey, did I just say that?" He muttered under his breath, and I turned, addressing him with a frown. A pained look crossed his face, just for a second, then it was gone.

"So, where'd you come from? Have you escaped from the loony bin or something then? Cos that would explain a lot."

"You humans! Just because I say things that are too big to wrap your tiny brains around, doesn't mean I should be branded insane lunatic at every opportunity!"

Once again, I had no idea what he was talking about, but it was funny none the less. He didn't even smile, and continued to stare almost longingly at me. "You sure you don't know who I am?"

"Nope. I've just met you. You haven't said what your name is..."

"I can't"

"Why?" The look of pure regret and suffering in his eyes made me shudder. Who was this stranger and what terrible things had he seen?

"So," I cleared my throat, sitting down on the ground beside him, "when you said 'what galaxy is this?'"

He looked confused for a moment before realisation dawned on his face. He began scratching the back on his neck. "Mm, I hadn't set the coordinates for any particular place, so for all I knew, I could have been anywhere."

I nodded slowly. "Right, so, this…police public call box…is like a teleport?"

"Welllll, no. Not exactly"

"A space ship then?"

He shrugged. "For a space ship, it doesn't do a lot of flying."

I scoffed, shaking my head. "It's just one riddle after another with you."

"Yup. And it's probably better if you know nothing else about me, if I'm just that strange man you spoke to once."

"Wait, what…?" I began to protest, but he had leapt to his feet. I did the same and whilst I was brushing the dirt off my hands, he was muttering under his breath again, frantically searching his pockets for something. "What you doing?" he seemed to have not heard me, but then his hands came down on my shoulders.

"Forget me, Rose Tyler. The most important thing, well," He smirked, a distant look appeared in his eyes, like he was reliving something, "one of the most important things you must ever do, is to forget me."

His wild eyes boring into mine, I had hardly heard what he had said, despite the urgency of his tone. I shook my head, trying to clear it. He was too cute for his own good. "But…what? Why?"

"Because this is bad, very bad. More than bad, it's catastrophic. I should have left the second I realised." He rambled on so fast I had to listen hard just to hear the words. "You can't breathe a word of this to me, well, to someone who doesn't look like me, but still is." He took in the blank expression on my face. "When you meet, _if _you meet another man who owns the same blue box as this one, then don't tell him."

"What _are_ you talking about? Sure you didn't hit your head?"

He grimaced, his hands removed from my shoulder had disappeared into his dishevelled mop of hair. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. But one day, this will all make perfect sense."`

"I hope you're right, cos I have no idea what you're on about now."

He smiled sadly. "You will do."

"Guess I'll have to take your word for it"

He sighed. "Right then, I'll be off. It was brilliant to meet you, Rose. Absolutely brilliant."

"Yeah, well, it's been…" I bit my lip, trying to think of a way to describe it without being insulting.

"Strange?"

I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face, and was mirrored by him. "Yeah, just a bit"

He nodded, staring at me for just a moment longer than necessary. If he wasn't quite so good looking, I would have complained about his perving. He draw a sharp intake of breath and pulled a key from his pocket. "Well, until next time, Rose Tyler…"

I took a step closer. "So there _is_ a next time then?" I pressed curiously.

The stranger didn't answer at first, key turned in the lock and he opened the door slightly. Then our eyes met and he beamed down at me proudly. "Ohh, yes."

I grinned back, only slightly confused. "I look forward to it."

He bowed his head and with a small farewell wave, he disappeared into the mysterious blue box. I chuckled to myself, maybe I was cracking up after all? With a wheezing noise and a roar of machinery, the box began to fade from sight, the light on top flashing as it went. My jaw dropped and with in a few seconds, it had disappeared completely. I remained fixed to the spot for a good few minutes after, wondering what the hell had just happened. He wanted me to forget him? Well that was never going to happen, not after the extraordinary impression he'd left me with. It was good to know I'd see him again.

I smiled to myself and whispered into the night air, "Until next time…"

_Ta-da! Oh mannn am I gonna miss David Tennant when he leaves._

_Right, I was thinking of writing another chapter of this where the doctor finds out what his future self did, but Rose doesn't know he knows. Comment if you think I should or not. Oh and thank you for reading!_


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